Did Washington Name Our Country?

posted by By Matt Cantor
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3 years ago

(NEWSER) – It makes sense that the father of our country would have named it, too—and new evidence suggests that may just be the case. History hasn't quite settled on who coined the term "the United States of America," though in 1998, experts announced that it was Thomas Jefferson (he wrote those words in a rough draft of the Declaration of Independence around June 11, 1776). But a letter written by one of George Washington's top military aides suggests otherwise. The letter from Stephen Moylan to Col. Joseph Reed, dated Jan. 2, 1776, discusses bringing the "full and ample powers from the United States of America" to Europe in search of backing for the revolution.